PalTrade, UNDP and ITC Launch Export Development Project for Palestinian Businesses

The Project on Export Development in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was launched in July 2011 as a joint cooperation between the Palestinian Trading Center (PalTrade), UNDP and ITC with funding provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Work under the agreement started in September 2011 with the first mission to the oPt already completed. The project will extend over a period of four years and will focus on enabling PalTrade, the national trade development organization, to provide sustainable high quality trade support services to Palestinian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), thereby enabling these local enterprises to export successfully to regional and international markets.  

The project is expected to deliver against five key output areas, namely:

• increased ability of PalTrade to provide effective trade support services to local MSMEs
• enhanced ability of PalTrade to engage the public and private sectors in trade policy dialogue and benefit from trade agreements
• improved access of the Palestinian private sector to useful trade information
• increased access of Palestinian firms to quality export development services
• increased access of Palestinian MSMEs in the selected sectors to international business opportunities in targeted markets and to contacts with the Palestinian business diaspora.  

UNDP is the Executing Agency of the project and is responsible for project management and administration including project monitoring, project reporting, and the overall financial management of project funds.

The main partner in the recipient country of the project is PalTrade which is considered in this project both as a beneficiary and an implementing agency. UNDP has signed an inter-agency agreement with ITC as the responsible UN technical agency and another agreement with PalTrade. Local activities will be implemented by PalTrade which will use its knowledge and experience of working in trade development for the benefit of local MSMEs.

ITC will provide complementary and focused trade related technical assistance (TRTA), advisory services, capability trainings and general backstopping.
 
By the end of the project, target private sector companies will have progressed in becoming export ready, accessing new markets and in increasing their exports and local market share, and PalTrade will have become a more sustainable and stronger trade promotion organization to serve Palestinian MSME exporters.